Archive for November, 2010

Apologies fro my lack of recent posts. It’s been quite some time hasn’t it! The reason for that is that I have been asked to write a feature for a magazine. “Adventure Bike rider” to be specific. Go to their website and check in out. www.adventurebikerider.com. Subscribe and make sure you buy the January edition to read my full account of Sudan. For now, you may have the very abridged version below 😉

So……After an infinite amount of time in Aswan sorting out our paperwork to leave Egypt, we finally managed to buy our tickets for the ferry to Sudan. It took three days of lots of waiting about and frustration but we were finally free. No one was sad to leave Egypt. The constant beaurocracy and “tourist rip off” tip society was very draining.

Down to the port and we had to put the bikes on a separate barge. A decrepid old boat which left the day after us. Very worrying leaving your bike behind but that’s Africa.

So, the bikes were loaded up and we got onto our ferry. We didn’t have a cabin so we were crammed on deck along with 350 Sudanese and three years worth of shopping. Eight of us crammed into a space fit for two. As you can imagine we didn’t sleep well but a great experience.

17 hours later we arranged in Wadi Halfa, and boy could we feel the heat. We wasted no time getting through customs and into town. We found ourselves a two quid hotel with a cess pit for a toilet. It was so hot we barely slept but the next day we were excited as we should be reclaiming the bikes. After some bribes, paperwork and the usual messing about we had our bikes back and made plans to ride the infamous desert route south!

We awoke early, loaded up the bikes with extra fuel and water and headed off into the desert. It didn’t take long for the tarmac to disappear and for the deep sand to make our lives very difficult. Crash after crash left us exhausted and frustrated. The blazing 45c sun didn’t add to the fun either. It didn’t take long for our first serious accident. Kim went straight over her bars and ended up badly hurt. She had broken her wrist, brushed her legs and cut up her face.. What a nightmare! Luckily Dave and Steph in the Landy were just behind and we managed to get Kim back to town and to the medical centre.. We arranged the local police to go out in their truck and collect the bike..

Hours later, Kim was bandaged up and the bike was back in town. We arranged to have the bike sent to Khartoum in a truck and Kim would ride in the Landy.

After three days of long and hot riding through the desert we arrived in Khartoum. I was exhausted with the heat and lack of sleep. We wild camped all the way down and the night temperatures were still in the high thirties. In Khartoum we were lucky to get hooked up with a local garage owner. He hooked us up with an apartment, repaired the bike, built a bike trailer for the Landy to tow Kim’s bike and took us out for dinner and drinks! Fantastic…

Eventually it was time for us to leave so we headed off for the Ethiopian boarder. Over the next few days, the sand turned to trees and grass and trees. Again wild camping, we ended up sleeping with local camel herders.

So, with bad sunburn, heat exhaustion, and a sore bum I left Sudan. Check out Adventure Bike Rider magazine for far more details !!